A Feeling So Sweet
by call me calamity
Summary: Powerless AU, Thunderblink featuring Zingo. The one where John agreed to dogsit for his best friends, but didn't consider the unforeseen complications (and/or benefits).
1. Chapter 1

"Zingo! Come on, girl! Come on!"

Nothing.

The dog looks up at John with unimpressed grey eyes from where she's lying on the floor, chin resting on her two front paws.

"You wanna go to the park? Wanna go for a walk?"

Zingo huffs, and John closes his eyes in frustration. When he agreed to dogsit for Lorna and Marcos, this was not what he had in mind. The past three days have been a constant battle of wit and stubbornness between John and his best friends' dog, and he still had four days left. He thought it would be an easy way to make a few bucks—feed her, give her water, take her for walks. But, as it quickly turned out, it was a bit more push-and-shove than he expected.

John tugs at the leash again. Zingo lets out a miffed half-whine, half-growl noise and at this point John has just about had it. He wants to call Lorna and say _"Your dog is my worst nightmare and I need you to come home and take her back right now,"_ but he doesn't want to interrupt the honeymoon. Right now, though, this dog is really pushing him to the limit.

"What is your problem?" he demands, looking at the dog. She stares back up at him with a bored expression. John sighs and runs a hand over his face, and then his eyes settle on the green toy that's dangling off the side of the couch. He shakes his head. _This better work._ "What if we bring this? Hm?" he asks, crossing the floor and grabbing the toy. Almost immediately, Zingo perks up. She lifts her head from her paws and her ears twitch and it would probably be adorable if she wasn't so infuriating. John mentally pats himself on the back.

"Well, come on," he says, holding out the toy as he backs up toward the door. Zingo launches to her feet and trots toward him, tags jingling, and John lets out a sigh of relief. _Finally._ "Good girl," he says. He reaches out to scratch behind her ears, but she dodges him and heads toward the door on her own, stopping to look back at him impatiently as if _he's_ the one who's been making _her_ wait.

This dog is going to be the death of him.

* * *

Thankfully, the park is only a few blocks from John's apartment complex. Unfortunately, the would-be-two-minute walk becomes a nearly-ten-minute walk, because Zingo keeps dropping her toy. John _would_ just pick it up and carry it for her, but every time he reaches for the green thing, the dog growls at his hand. Honestly, it's embarrassing. He just can't win.

Somehow they make it to the park without killing each other, and John decides it's cause for celebration. His personal reward?

Sitting down.

He finds a bench along the path that runs through the park, one with a tree growing directly over it. The long limbs provide shade from the mid-July sun, and John lets out a long breath as he sits. Zingo, stubborn as ever, walks until her leash is stretched as far as it can go in order to be as far away from John as possible. She drops her toy on the pavement and sits protectively behind it, tongue out as she pants and observes the surrounding area.

A mother pushing a baby carriage with two infants strolls past. A 50-something-year-old guy jogs by with classic rock music blasting from his earbuds. A couple walks in front of the bench, hands interlaced and giggling to each other the whole time.

John averts his gaze back to Zingo. She's cute when she's not being a pain in the ass, with her floppy ears and grey eyes. He's always been good with animals. He just doesn't understand why he and Zingo don't get along.

Speak of the devil. John is suddenly graced by the presence of the dog as she trots over to settle beside the bench. _This is an improvement,_ he thinks to himself. Then he sees that she left her toy in the middle of the path, and he sighs in annoyance. "Do I really have to keep picking up after you?" he turns to face the dog. She cocks her head to one side, whining in confusion. John shakes his head. "Guess so."

Slowly, he stands up from the bench and stretches. Damn, he's tired. He takes a few steps forward, about to reach for the toy, when a frantic voice calls, _"Watch it!"_

Reflexes quick as ever, John manages to leap backward just as a jogging woman strides toward him. Unfortunately, she swerved in order to avoid him, and lets out a yelp as she trips over Zingo's toy. She staggers, and the woman nearly wipes out before she manages to regain her balance. John watches in equal parts awe and horror. He's impressed that she managed to save herself, hence the awe. She appears to have collected herself now, and she turns around so quickly that she must've gotten whiplash. She looks angry.

Hence the horror.

"What the hell was that?" the woman demands, storming over toward John. A few people have stopped to stare. As she gets closer, John realizes that she's probably about his age. She's dressed in a loose-fitting tank top and capri-length jogging pants. Her hair is a dark shade of purple, and her features are Asian. _She's pretty._

"I'm so sorry," John says quickly. Her glare is terrifying. "I wasn't paying attention."

" _Clearly_ you weren't paying attention," she says, rolling her eyes. They're hazel, though more green than brown. Definitely uncommon, definitely unique. "I almost wiped out back there."

"Are you okay?" John asks, honestly concerned.

"I'm fine," she replies, annoyance still lacing the edge of her voice. Their conversation is interrupted by a whimper, and the two young adults turn to see Zingo looking up at them, a pitiful look in her eyes. John notices the woman's face soften as her gaze lands on the dog, and a hint of a smile graces her lips. "This is your dog?" she asks.

"I, uh... kind of?" John says with a frown, rubbing the back of his neck. "She belongs to my best friends. I'm just watching her while they're on honeymoon."

He's not sure if she even heard him though, because she's already crouched down in front of Zingo, scratching the dog's chin and the top of her head. And then John remembers— _the toy._

"Shit," he mutters, turning to the path. This time he looks both ways before crossing, and quickly reaches down to grab the toy. The poor thing is completely caved in from where the woman stepped on it.

When he turns to head back to the bench, the woman is watching him. She quickly turns away, focusing her attention back on the dog. When he finally gets closer, she stands up and crosses her arms, glancing at the squashed rubber in his hand. John looks at her, eyebrows arched, and holds up the toy. "This was her favorite, you know."

The woman grimaces, looking at Zingo apologetically. " _Ooh_. Sorry." The dog whines. Then the woman turns back to John. "You know, I really wouldn't have demolished her toy if you hadn't gone barging into the path like a madman."

"Okay," John says defensively, "I told you I'm sorry."

She sighs, scratches Zingo behind the ears once more, and then turns back toward John. "I think I know you," she says abruptly.

"Huh?" He's never seen this woman in his life.

She nods. "Yeah. You're in the apartment complex a few blocks away, right?" She shakes her head. "I just moved in there about a week ago. I'm pretty sure it's you that I've seen."

"Probably," John finally says, nodding. She doesn't exactly seem like a threat or a stalker, and he does remember a few moving trucks pulling in recently.

The woman nods before sticking out her hand. "I'm Clarice."

 _Clarice._ Uncommon name, but John supposes it suits her, what with her purple hair and greenish eyes. All uncommon. "John," he says in response, gripping her hand with his own. "And I apologize again."

Clarice shrugs. "I mean, I'm not injured. Plus, I feel bad for murdering your dog's toy. I hope she can forgive me."

However, almost as soon as Clarice is finished speaking, Zingo is nudging her hand with her nose. Clarice smiles and turns to face the dog, bending down once more to pat her. John glares at Zingo. How is this even fair? She gives him hell for days, and then becomes a lovebug at the first stranger to talk to her? A stranger that just trampled her favorite toy?

 _This dog._

"I was actually about to leave," John says. Then, deciding to be bold, "She's super stubborn and doesn't do much for me, so I was planning on heading back to the complex. You should walk with us."

He makes the offer partly because he feels guilty for causing her to trip, partly because he has a feeling that Zingo will cooperate with Clarice around, and partly because she's very pretty and Lorna and Marcos have been trying to push him back into the dating scene after the situation with Sonia and so _maybe_ this could be his chance.

Clarice smiles. "Uh, yeah, sure. My run kinda got interrupted and I was almost done anyway, so I might as well just head back."

"Again, I'm really sorry," John says as he reaches for Zingo's leash. He has to admit, he's embarrassed. This girl must think he's dumb, or oblivious, or probably both.

"It's honestly not a big deal," Clarice reassure him. "Nobody was really harmed or anything. Well, except for the toy." Cue whine from Zingo. "What's her name, anyway?" Clarice asks as the three of them begin to walk.

John mouth twitches slightly upward. "Zingo," he tells her, and Clarice's smile grows. She has a nice smile.

"Zingo," Clarice repeats, and the dog looks up at her and John swears it looks like the she's smiling. What the _hell._ Then Clarice lifts her gaze back up to John, and her eyes are sparkling. "I like it."

John smiles back at her. He does, too.

* * *

 **Buh-dum-tss.**

 **I've come to the conclusion that I literally cannot keep up with canon alone, so I wrote up a dose of AU to help me get through the writing of my other stuff. Sorry if it was kind of rough, I'm still trying to get back into this whole writing thing. I'll probably make this particular story into two or three parts or something; short and sweet, right? Ugh, I ship these two so hard.**

 **But yeah, I hope you enjoyed! Follow and/or leave a review if you want!**


	2. Chapter 2

As it turns out, Clarice's apartment is only one floor below John's. That's what he tells her as they're walking.

She knew that, though.

Look, she's not a stalker. She just _happened_ to notice the super attractive guy in her new apartment complex on her second day of living here, and it's not her fault that she keeps seeing him in passing. And, when she noticed three days ago that he started coming to the park where she runs, dog in tow, she began to think that the Universe may be on her side. Unfortunately though, the Universe has strange ways of showing it.

The guy, John, seems to have overlooked it, but as they walk back toward the apartment complex Clarice can't help but replay the scene from earlier in her mind. To say the least, she's mortified. First she yells at the guy, then she murders his dog's—or his friends' dog, same difference—favorite toy, almost faceplanting in the process. Not the best way to make a first impression.

At least the dog seems to have forgiven her. The dog, Zingo (cute name) is practically tugging John's arm off in an attempt to walk closer to Clarice. She smiles down at the dog and scratches her head. "Either this dog really wants to avoid you," she quips with a smile, "or she's super excited to get home."

"The former," John says without hesitation. "Well, maybe both. But mostly she just doesn't like me."

 _Seems impossible._ "Well, that sucks," Clarice replies.

"Yeah," John scoffs, pushing a stray piece of hair out of his eyes. Clarice wonders how his hair would look if he took it out of the half-up, half-down style he's currently sporting. Probably amazing. "Especially since I'm stuck with her until next Tuesday."

Clarice _tsk_ s. "Aw," she coos. "Hear that, Zingo? You're stuck with this guy for a whole _four days!_ "

Zingo turns to look at her like _Please don't remind me,_ and Clarice lets out a laugh. "I like her," she tells John. "She's got personality."

"That's one way to put it."

Clarice snickers, wondering what Zingo could possibly do that drives John so far up a wall.

Soon enough, they've arrived at the apartment complex. They both go to reach for the door handle at the same time, and then retract. Then they look at each other and laugh awkwardly before reaching forward once again. This time their hands brush, and Clarice feels a jolt in her chest and stomach. She pulls her hand away at lightning speed and crosses her arms, smiling awkwardly up at John and _praying_ that she isn't blushing too hard. "Sorry," she tells him. Zingo whines and cocks her head to one side as she looks up at them.

John chuckles and finally pulls the door open, allowing Clarice to step through. She mutters out a _thank you_ and takes a deep, content breath as she's hit with a blast of cool air from the building's AC unit. The lobby is fairly empty as John and Zingo enter after her, only a few people milling about. The small group makes their way to the elevator, where Clarice reaches forward and presses on the _up_ arrow. She glances back and smiles at John. "So, this is where I leave you."

John studies her for a moment, and she shifts under his gaze. He has really nice eyes. Then he blinks, and he smiles easily at her, and Clarice is absolutely certain that she's melting and it's _not_ from the July heat. "I mean, you could come to my place if you want."

Clarice, ever the sarcastic one, cocks an eyebrow and grins. "Rushing right into things, are we?" she asks. "My god, we haven't even been on a date yet."

John's smile widens. "What? You don't count the park as a date?"

The elevator dings and the metal doors slide open. They step into the compartment and as the doors begin to close again, John reaches out for the array of buttons. "You're second floor, right?"

"But I thought we were going to yours. Make up your mind, will you?"

John smiles again. Clarice really likes his smile. He shakes his head in amusement. "Right, you're right. How rude of me." He presses the button with the glowing 3.

Clarice crosses her arms and smiles slightly, looking up at the little screen with the glowing numbers to signify their floors. The elevator lurches, and the digital red number changes from _L_ to _1._ Is it weird that she basically invited herself to his apartment? The little voice of self-doubt in the back of her mind screams _yes,_ but she reasons that John seems like a cool guy, and he wouldn't have offered in the first place if he didn't want to spend time with her.

After another thirty seconds of second-guessing, the elevator dings and the doors slide open. An older woman is waiting outside, and she steps back to let them out. John and Clarice say thank you, and the woman smiles back.

"Dog instead of kids?" the woman says with a sparkle in her eye. "I wish I had made the same decision."

And then she's walking into the elevator, chuckling to herself before the doors close behind her. Clarice turns to John, and he does the same. They awkwardly laugh in unison before John is lightly tugging at Zingo's leash. Clarice follows them down the hall until they arrive at one of the doors on the right side of the hallway. John reaches into his pocket, fishing for a key no doubt, and opens the door. He pushes it open, letting go of Zingo's leash and letting her trot into the apartment.

John gestures for Clarice to enter as well, and she does. When she steps into the apartment, she looks around and almost snorts. If she didn't know any better, she would think that John's the one who just moved in, not her.

"So I take it you're a minimalist?" she asks, turning around as he closes the door behind him. The apartment is practically bare.

"Of sorts," John says with a shrug. "Do you want something to eat? Drink?"

"Do you even have food?" Clarice teases, and John rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless.

"Surprising, I know, but I actually _do_ have more than just a couch in here."

Clarice grins and follows him into the kitchen, moving to perch on a barstool that's positioned next to the island in the middle as John heads for the refrigerator. She realizes that her hair is still pulled into a ponytail from her run, and she quickly reaches up to pull the elastic out. Maybe it's stupid for a twenty-something-year old, but she's very self-conscious of the way her ears look. Letting her hair fall, she combs it with her fingers and shakes it out with one hand, hoping it doesn't look too much like a rat's nest because _that_ would be embarrassing.

"You got a poison?" John asks, looking over his shoulder at her.

Clarice shrugs. "I'm not picky."

John grins. "Beer it is."

* * *

Ten minutes later they're on John's couch, TV muted in the background. They're on opposite sides of the couch, facing each other. Clarice holds a beer in one hand, her other arm draped over the couch to rest on Zingo's head.

"Alright, Johnny boy," Clarice says after a minute. "Tell me something about yourself."

"About myself?" he frowns. Clarice nods slowly. John sighs and shrugs. "Okay. Uh. I used to live in Arizona."

"Arizona?" Clarice asks, brows raised. "Damn. That's all the way across the country."

John nods. "Yep. Used to live on the rez. Then it was the Marines, and finally I got bored and moved out here to Georgia."

Huh. Clarice figures she should've guessed that John is Native American. And a soldier, for that matter. Dude has arms for days. "Now you," John says, nodding at her.

Clarice clears her throat, shaking her out of her face. "Hm," she says. "I… never knew my parents?"

John's eyebrows shoot upward. Yikes. Yikes yikes yikes yikes yikes.

 _Way to overshare, idiot,_ Clarice thinks to herself.

"Now _that_ warrants a damn," John says. "How'd you grow up, then? Foster care?"

Clarice nods. "Little ranch. Georgia backwoods; you'd never know it was there unless you were trying to find it."

"Sounds quaint."

"Indeed."

Another silence settles, and Clarice nudges Zingo with her toe. The dog whines, then turns and licks her hand. Clarice smiles. "How could you _not_ get along with her?" she asks John. "She's precious."

John rolls his eyes. "She's just showing off because you're here."

Another whine. Clarice giggles. "So your friends got hitched, huh?"

"Yeah," John says, voice strained as he stretches his arms behind his head. Clarice tries not to stare too long at the sheer muscles on the guy. "They're in Mexico for the honeymoon. They've been together forever, pretty much. Since college, anyway."

"Damn." Clarice can't lie, she feels a twinge of jealousy. She's never had the best luck with guys. Mainly because she's basically allergic to commitment, but still. She figures it must be nice to have someone there by your side for years. Her gaze lingers on John as he watches the TV, and Clarice has to snap herself out of it. _Get a grip. You just met the guy._

"Yeah," John snorts, "except now that they're actually married, they're going to be pushing me even harder to find someone to settle down with."

Clarice's heart flutters. _Nope. Not doing that._ Deciding on humor, she smirks at him. "Free spirit, huh?"

"Try ex-girlfriend who left some scarring in her wake."

"Oof."

John shakes his head. "It was a long time ago. We just... weren't compatible, I guess."

Well, great. He's got PTSD from a past relationship that he isn't fully over. Clarice wants to facepalm; it looks like any romantic advancements with John are going to take a lot longer than normal. And then she's kicking herself again because _relax, Clarice._ She hasn't even talked to him before today. She shouldn't even be _thinking_ of him in a romantic way. Friends first.

Once again, she reaches out to scratch at Zingo's head. The dog leans into her touch and sighs contentedly. "You'll find someone," Clarice says, smiling down at Zingo. She doesn't mean for her voice to come out as softly as it does.

"I know."

When she looks up, John is already watching her. His expression is unreadable, but Clarice can't stop the butterflies in her stomach anyway. Something in his eyes... maybe it's wishful thinking, but she wonders if he could see a future in her.

She thinks she'd like that.

* * *

 **Yikes I'm writing/posting this when I should be finishing my AP project that's due tomorrow. Whoops.**

 **So anyway, I've come to the conclusion that this will have two more parts. I'm almost finished with the next one, and then the last chapter will be like an epilogue of sorts. This chapter was kind of boring, I know, but just wait for the next one! I promise it gets much more interesting ;)**


End file.
